Do grovers affect tone ???
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vladmaximus
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oh my god...
hi hi hiii...
hi hi hiii...
jwinger
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During the Great Sustain Race of the early '70's, all kinds of things were tried to get guitars to keep the energy of the string *in* the string.
Travis Bean went with an all-aluminum neck that extended clear through to the bridge (and then put a dense koa body around that). The Dan Armstrong guitar used plexiglass (acrylic, whatever) as a body material for its density. Metal guitars (as in the material metal) came and went. Manufacturers like Ibanez and Yamaha built exceptionally dense bodies, put very heavy bridge/tailpieces on the guitars, made their headstocks pretty heavy and even put 10 oz brass or pot metal sustain blocks under the bridge, screwed to the wood of the guitar. For my money, the Travis Bean and the Yamaha SG-2000 emerged the sustain leaders. These guitars also have less mud in the bottom end.
It turns out that extra mass in the headstock does have some incremental value, but compared to everything else you do with the guitar, it's minimal. The difference in tuner weight, however, is essentially unnoticeable sonically. And it never made a difference in harmonics, etc. Getting rid of the headstock completely makes a difference.
Mud on the bottom end was another issue -- you could get far better sustain and projection of the bottom end on an all-maple guitar. If you get to LA, I'll hand you my L5-S solid body (all maple) and a couple of Carvin neck-throughs (one DC-150 and one V220) in all-maple and you can tell me what you think. A longer scale helps (even bumping the 24.6something of an LP to a 25" scale helps). Fan-fret guitars make a difference. Thicker strings and more tension on the bottom end helps.
Moving to a heavier, denser bridge makes a difference, as did that sustain block (try out an early-80's Ibanez Artist AR-300 some time) beneath it.
A tuner swap? Not so much.
Travis Bean went with an all-aluminum neck that extended clear through to the bridge (and then put a dense koa body around that). The Dan Armstrong guitar used plexiglass (acrylic, whatever) as a body material for its density. Metal guitars (as in the material metal) came and went. Manufacturers like Ibanez and Yamaha built exceptionally dense bodies, put very heavy bridge/tailpieces on the guitars, made their headstocks pretty heavy and even put 10 oz brass or pot metal sustain blocks under the bridge, screwed to the wood of the guitar. For my money, the Travis Bean and the Yamaha SG-2000 emerged the sustain leaders. These guitars also have less mud in the bottom end.
It turns out that extra mass in the headstock does have some incremental value, but compared to everything else you do with the guitar, it's minimal. The difference in tuner weight, however, is essentially unnoticeable sonically. And it never made a difference in harmonics, etc. Getting rid of the headstock completely makes a difference.
Mud on the bottom end was another issue -- you could get far better sustain and projection of the bottom end on an all-maple guitar. If you get to LA, I'll hand you my L5-S solid body (all maple) and a couple of Carvin neck-throughs (one DC-150 and one V220) in all-maple and you can tell me what you think. A longer scale helps (even bumping the 24.6something of an LP to a 25" scale helps). Fan-fret guitars make a difference. Thicker strings and more tension on the bottom end helps.
Moving to a heavier, denser bridge makes a difference, as did that sustain block (try out an early-80's Ibanez Artist AR-300 some time) beneath it.
A tuner swap? Not so much.
Z.K.
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I think the mass affects sustain, not tone; how much sustain ? who knows... I only say this because I sometimes see some people use that thingy on the headstock, although I've seen it more on acoustics than electrics....
FF-GC @ Groove Tubes
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FF-GC @ Groove Tubes
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jbzoso2002
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Im a huge Grover fan! Every les paul i ever get will have
grovers or nothing. The klusons feel cheap, like there
about to break off when im tuneing. If i had the cash to
get a new r9 Grovers would be installed at once. When you
see pics of real burst players in the 70's most have Grovers
on them. Jimmy Page a smart guy by most accounts, put
Grovers on all his les pauls in 70's. Must be something to it.
Jimmy
grovers or nothing. The klusons feel cheap, like there
about to break off when im tuneing. If i had the cash to
get a new r9 Grovers would be installed at once. When you
see pics of real burst players in the 70's most have Grovers
on them. Jimmy Page a smart guy by most accounts, put
Grovers on all his les pauls in 70's. Must be something to it.
Jimmy
Raku10
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Do having fat fingers or big hands affect tone? cause your hand does add mass to the neck too.
How about holding the neck tightly vs loosely. That will effect the resonance of the neck, right? Hahaha..
I mean can we human ears possibly detect such small difference?
MesaBoogie
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River
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You'd have an SG!What if you duct taped a Brick to the headstock?
jwinger
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Thanks - there bareknuckle pg blues (came both covered but I removed the neck pickup cover for a bit more clarity and presense)
dwagar
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Eric Johnson probably could
he asked about HUMAN ears.
According to Dan E, Grovers will give you a more focused tone, Klusons more open and airy tone.
Due mainly to the difference in weight on the headstock.
